(RepublicanInformer.com)- The continuing resolution passed by Congress and signed by President Biden at the end of September required the Biden administration to provide Congress with the details of the government’s Afghan airlift and resettlement by November 29. Well, November 29 has come and gone and the Biden administration failed to meet the deadline.
Two weeks later, the White House still has not turned over the details as required by law.
According to Senator Rob Portman, the top Republican on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the administration was required by law to report to Congress “on the composition and vetting of the Afghan evacuees,” and as yet the White House has failed to do so.
In a statement released last week, Portman blasted the “feckless nature” of the Afghanistan evacuation, saying the administration has put US national security at risk. Portman expressed concern over the White House’s lack of accountability on the issue.
As part of the Extended Government Funding and Delivery Emergency Assistance Act signed into law on September 30, the Secretary of Homeland Security was required to submit a written report within 60 days. The report was to include the total breakdown of how many Afghans were evacuated and whether they were brought into the US or were held abroad. DHS was also supposed to itemize the number of lawful permanent residents, SIV holders and applicants, non-immigrant visa holders, and refugee referrals.
Congress also wanted the DHS to disclose the number of evacuees who were flagged as national security risks, as well as those who are on the no-fly list. DHS was also to provide the costs to US taxpayers for the ongoing effort, and detail what government employees are involved in the resettlement effort.
And none of the information required by law has been turned over. This is despite the fact that it was recently reported that tens of thousands of those Afghans brought into the United States as part of the airlift were not fully vetted.
The Biden administration repeatedly claimed that the only people they were evacuating would be SIV holders and those Afghan allies who worked with the US during the 20-year war. However, the vast majority of Afghans evacuated, approximately 75 percent, do not fall into either of those categories.
